<p>​Justice and Home Affairs Ministers from EU Member States as well as EU Commissioners and EU Agency representatives are meeting in Bucharest today, 7th February 2019, in the context of Romania`s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. <br></p><p>eu-LISA's Executive Director, Krum Garkov, will be addressing the meeting to share the Agency's views and stand on topics including Counter Terrorism, Police Cooperation, the Schengen Area and Migration & Asylum.</p><p>Further details about the meeting can be found on <a href="https://www.romania2019.eu/2019/01/25/informal-meeting-of-eu-justice-and-home-affairs-ministers-in-bucharest/">https://romania2019.eu</a><br></p>

Political Agreement for Interoperability between EU Information Systems

04/02/2019 22:00:00

<span style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">On 5 February 2019, the European Parliament and the Council reached a preliminary political agreement on the Commission's proposal for two regulations establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems for security, migration and border management. The purpose of the regulations is to ensure that border guards and police officers have access to the right information when and where they need it to perform their duties, thus further closing security gaps.</span><div><span style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">According to the Executive D</span><span style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">irector of eu-LISA, Krum Garkov, reaching a political consensus on the new regulations is an important starting point for eu-LISA. Developing the technical components that will make large-scale IT systems in the EU interoperable needs a solid legislative foundation to build upon.</span></div><div><br><p>The new components will allow the existing and future EU information systems, such as the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) to talk to each other, preventing important pieces of information from going undetected. The new tools will:</p><ul><li>Crosscheck existing data with one click: A <strong>European search portal</strong> will allow border guards and police to carry out simultaneous checks of identity documents against all EU information systems on a single screen;</li><li>Better detect identity fraud: a <strong>common identity repository</strong>, which will store biographical data of non-EU citizens will allow border guards and police to better identify dangerous criminals;</li><li>Improve access for law enforcement: once the information searched by an officer matches information contained in one of the systems (i.e. gets a "hit"), he/she will be able to request more targeted access, in line with the specific rules for each system;</li><li>Protect fundamental rights: the rules on access and purpose limitation of the EU's information systems will not change, thus ensuring that fundamental rights remain protected.​</li></ul><h2>​Next steps<br></h2><p>The two Regulations establishing the framework for the interoperability of EU information systems for security, border and migration management will now need to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.</p><p>Once adopted, eu-LISA will be responsible for the development and the roll-out of the technical components that will make EU information systems interoperable. </p><h2><br></h2><h2>Further reading<br></h2><ul><li><a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-846_en.htm">EC Press Release</a></li><li><a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/02/05/interoperability-between-eu-information-systems-council-presidency-and-european-parliament-reach-provisional-agreement">CoE Press Release</a></li><li><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-security/20171212_proposal_regulation_on_establishing_framework_for_interoperability_between_eu_information_systems_police_judicial_cooperation_asylum_migration_en.pdf">Interoperability Regulation for police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration</a></li><li><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-security/20171212_proposal_regulation_on_establishing_framework_for_interoperability_between_eu_information_systems_borders_and_visa_en.pdf">Interoperability Regulation for borders and visa</a>​</li></ul></div>

<p>A High-Level
seminar on ETIAS co-organised by eu-LISA, Europol, the European Commission and
Frontex, took place in Warsaw on 21 January 2019.</p><p>The aim of the
seminar was twofold: 1) to raise awareness on the project and the various
stakeholder roles and 2) to help Member States move forward with their decision
making processes on organisational matters. </p><p>Member State
representation was high with representatives coming mostly from ministries,
police and border guard forces as well as SIRENE authorities. Including
participants from the organising institutions, there were close to 100
attendees.</p><p>Krum Garkov,
Executive Director of eu-LISA, explained that the meeting was taking place at
the right time as the need to map out tasks and prepare is now. ETIAS, he
noted, is arguably the most complex project currently underway in terms of
border management and requires close collaboration. Mr Garkov emphasised that
ETIAS was about more than technology, as it will change how border guards work
and have significant effects on the travel industry as a whole.</p><p>The European
Commission emphasised the important work that Member States need to be ready
for in terms of connecting to the ETIAS system whilst noting the pressure to
complete developments within the set timeframe. </p><p>Frontex expressed
their appreciation for the support of the organising parties and their spirit
of constructive cooperation that would be vital for further progress with
ETIAS.</p><p>Europol noted
from the outset their full commitment to and engagement in the cooperative work
to come on ETIAS, noting it to be an important milestone on the way to interoperability.</p><p>Member States
appreciated the seminar and the opportunity to compare their plans and
readiness with one another with regard to implementing ETIAS within their
national environments.</p><p>A similar seminar will be held later this year during
which further practicalities will be discussed and shared. </p>

<p>While there might not have been high-profile incidents like the Wannacry or NotPetya ransomware outbreak this year, the rise of GandCrab and SamSam variants show that the threat of ransomware is still very active, and adapting.</p><p>The numbers involved remain disquieting – the file-locking GandCrab malware is believed to have infected over half a million victims since it was first detected in January of this year.</p><p>With cybercriminals experimenting with increasingly sophisticated tactics and self-propagating techniques, ransomware could have been a highly profitable venture for them - if it was not because the No More Ransom decryption tools have kept some USD 22 million out of their pockets.</p><h2>Bringing in new tools and partners</h2><p>Launched in July 2016, the <a href="https://www.nomoreransom.org/">No More Ransom online portal</a> is now available in 35 different languages and carries 59 free decryption tools, covering some 91 ransomware families.</p><p>Most recently, a universal decryption tool for the aggressive file-locking GandCrab malware was released on the portal by the Romanian National Police, Europol and Bitdefender. This tool has allowed so far more than 4 400 victims from 150 countries to recover their encrypted files, with several hundreds of thousands of other victims who could be helped.</p><p>Already strong of 129 partners, No More Ransom was joined today by Bleeping Computer, Cisco and ESET as new associate partners, while Microsoft, Symantec, Coveware and Northwind Data Recovery joined in a supporting capacity. Cyprus, Estonia, Scotland and Sweden also joined over the course of the past year, bringing the number of involved law enforcement agencies to 41.</p><p>So far, the tools provided on No More Ransom have managed to decrypt the infected computer of over 72 000 victims worldwide – yet there are still many more victims out there which need help, this even more so as the threat of ransomware is going nowhere in 2019.<br></p><h2>Join the fight against ransomware</h2><p>Are you a cybersecurity company willing to join forces with law enforcement and industry leaders in the fight to disrupt ransomware?</p><p>Do you have an innovative solution for ransomware families not covered yet in the portal to help victims recover their files without giving into the demands of the criminals?</p><p>Then we want to hear from you!</p><h2>Better safe than sorry</h2><p>The best cure against ransomware remains diligent prevention. Users are strongly advised to:</p><p>Always keep a copy of their most important files somewhere else: in the cloud, on another drive, on a memory stick, or on another computer.</p><ul><li>Use reliable and up-to-date anti-virus software.</li><li>Not download programs from suspicious sources.</li><li>Not open attachments in e-mails from unknown senders, even if they look important and credible.</li><li>And if you are a victim, don’t pay the ransom!</li></ul><p>Find more information and prevention tips on <a href="https://www.nomoreransom.org/">www.nomoreransom.org</a></p>

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